The court held that the total number of 393, 042 votes governor Umahi secured during the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ebonyi State belonged to the PDP and could not be legally transferred to the APC.
Vanguard reports that the court added that having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy not only jettisoned the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to it.
The Court added that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the office of the Governor and Deputy Governor in Ebonyi State “belong to the Plaintiff and no other politcal party”.
“There is no constitutional provision that made the ballot transferrable from one party to the other,” he declared.
It continued that the PDP is bound to retain the votes and mandate that was given to it by electorates in Ebonyi State, as both Governor Umahi and his Deputy could not validly transfer same to APC.
The court therefore ordered both Umahi and Igwe to immediately vacate their positions.
It further directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately receive from the PDP, names of persons to replace Umahi and his Deputy, or in the alternative, conduct fresh gubernatorial election in Ebonyi State in line with section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Furthermore, the Court restrained both Umahi and Igwe from further parading themselves as Governor or Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State.